Game of Thrones tops illegal downloads. Again

The incredibly popular fantasy series Game of Thrones,
based on the novels of George R. R. Martin, returned to airwaves
this week. Shortly after, it returned to torrent trackers. With
over 300k people seeding -- uploading the video file -- it became
the most-shared TV episode in record time.

The popularity of the premiere episode, Two Swords, was
such that even production network HBO's own streaming catch-up
service, HBO Go, was unable
to meet demand.

It isn't the first time the series has gained such infamy. For
both its second and third seasons, Game of Thrones was the
most pirated TV show from anywhere in the world. The ease of
torrenting episodes shortly after they aired lead to
record-breaking download numbers from eager viewers, a situation no
doubt exacerbated by the difficulty of
purchasing or viewing the show legally. In the US, HBO Go is
tied to cable TV subscription packages, leaving customers hoping to
use online-only streaming providers short on luck, while the global
availability of the series was -- until recently -- handled in a
positively ancient fashion, with regional rights negotiated slowly
and separately.

However, it's not all hand-wringing news for the show's
producers. Sky Atlantic's UK airing of the episode was simulcast
with HBO's American premiere at a yawn-inducing 2am local, yet
still attracted 537k viewers. A much more reasonable 9pm repeat
showing on Monday 7th fared even better, with 675k tuning in.
International availability in general has vastly improved, with the
show also airing in Australia -- the territory where the show is
most downloaded -- only two hours after the US.

Whether these efforts will placate fans hunger to watch the
episodes as and when they like remains to be seen though. With a
season of political intrigue, bitter war, and fully grown dragons
ahead, viewer anticipation is likely to remain at fever pitch, and
the continuing absence of episodes for purchase or stream from a
choice of vendors is likely to have some turning to illicit sources
for some time yet.